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Australian : making a difference in times of disaster

AusAID demonstrates how the , through its overseas aid agency, has responded to different emergencies throughout the world.

Australian governments have a long assisting with indigenous disaster Disasters can occur anywhere, history of being able to respond management capacities. anytime. They may be in the form rapidly to natural disasters overseas, of a natural event such as a drawing largely on specialists in This paper offers examples of how the Australian Government, through cyclone or an earthquake or as a overseas aid, the logistic capacity of its overseas aid agency AusAID, has man-made phenomenon. In the the Australian Defence Force, and in responded to different emergencies. case of a natural event, often particular through a standing and there is no warning. Loss of life is close arrangement with Emergency Reconstruction in almost inevitable and the social Management . and economic costs can be heavy. Extra support has been provided In the second half of 1999, Australia Some nations are better equipped through funding the work of became engaged in what has been to manage disasters than others. Australian and overseas non- its biggest humanitarian response to The reasons are varied. Factors government organisations and by a crisis so far. such as political and economic supporting the work of multilateral stability, sophisticated technology organisations such as the UN and After supporting the right of the and an informed and educated East Timorese to decide their own the Red Cross. public can combine to avert future, Australians witnessed a disasters or limit the damage The challenges have been many. brutal turn of events in the former caused by them. Changing climatic patterns, when Indonesian province as militia groups went on the rampage, This paper outlines how the interacting with the poverty of vast looting and destroying what they Australian Government, through populations in developing could, before setting fire to its overseas aid agency AusAID, countries, have exposed increasing buildings, homes and churches. has responded to disasters in numbers of people to natural disasters. In the past few years there different parts of the world, During this violent period more has been a sequence of particularly drawing on the expertise of its than 200,000 people fled East severe events. own staff, of other government Timor, most ending up in refugee agencies and of non-government However, it is not just natural camps in West Timor. Hundreds of organisations. emergencies that concern Australia’s thousands more fled their homes and sought refuge in surrounding aid program. mountains. Conflicts and social upheaval now Australians have always responded The destruction of their former reverberating around Asia and the generously to international appeals homeland meant the East Timorese Pacific also demand a response. for help in times of emergency and had to build a new country from the disaster. It is this same concern that Increasingly these latter challenges ashes. drives the Australian Government’s assume substantial national priority humanitarian and emergency aid Australians responded with and require a more complex program. generosity and compassion. response than do natural disasters. In 2000–2001, Australia provided Such responses often draw on At AusAID headquarters in in the order of $107 million to players from many areas such as , an East Timor Unit was defence and the civilian police force. help relieve human suffering immediately formed to deal specifically with the immediate caused by natural disaster, armed In addition, AusAID bilateral needs of the East Timorese. conflict and economic and political country programs are increasingly crises, mainly in Asia, the Pacific providing support to communities At the time, the world’s attention and Africa. recovering from crises and are was focussed on the troubles of 4 3066 WEMA Journal August 2002 9/23/02 11:52 AM Page 5

Devastation caused by volcanic eruption in Rabaul, 1994. Photo by Josephine Hutton 3066 WEMA Journal August 2002 9/23/02 11:53 AM Page 6

Houses in many parts of are vulnerable to the elements. Photo by Tim Acker, courtesy of AusAID.

Kosovo and Angola and the and administration, concentrating Other activities have been aimed at resources of the United Nations on developing the capacity of the vulnerable groups and those living were stretched. East Timorese to run an indepen- with limited access to resources, dent East Timor. particularly outside Dili. This Australia’s offer to take a substantial recognises the fact that 85 per cent role in the reconstruction of East Since then, Australia’s commitment of East Timor’s poorest people live Timor was readily accepted and to East Timor has not waned. in rural areas, large tracts of which within six months, the Government were burnt or severely damaged in had increased its initial funding of During 2001–2002 its aid to East the turmoil following the vote for $4 million to $80 million. Timor is allocated at $40 million independence. When people and to date in total Australia has returned to their villages in AusAID provided immediate contributed $131.8 million. November and December 1999, logistical support from Darwin, it was only weeks before the wet The funding has been earmarked transporting equipment, food, season, yet the next season’s crops for measures that reduce poverty goods and personnel to East Timor. had not been planted. Without and build on East Timor’s capacity immediate action, a food shortage As part of its humanitarian to govern a peaceful, democratic response it sent food and medicine would have been imminent. and independent country. to refugees stranded in camps in The Australian Government West Timor and provided kits of These include as a high priority, contributed to a large crop planting seeds, tools and emergency shelter programs which increase and exercise by distributing tools and for people returning to their farms improve education, health, rural seeds in November. $1 million was and homes. development, water and sanitation channelled through World Vision The Australian Government also and governance. and Care Australia to buy seeds and tools and distribute them to farmers agreed to contribute to a It has helped the country prepare Reconstruction and Development in the mountains for planting before for independence by assisting with Trust Fund and a United Nations the wet season. The seeds included budget management and taxation Trust Fund. a range of varieties such as systems, helping to establish land pumpkin, tomato, bittermelon, The first fund was set up to rebuild administration systems, providing corn, red beans, navy beans, kidney East Timor’s economy, essential English Language Training and beans, mung beans, soybeans, choy infrastructure and services. The scholarships targetted at the sum, bitter gourd and lettuce. The

6 second was to support governance country’s highest priority skill needs. vegetables formed the basis of a 3066 WEMA Journal August 2002 9/23/02 11:53 AM Page 7

high protein diet aimed at the floodplains as flash floods. and longer-term needs of the people alleviating malnutrition. The farmers Therefore, when extreme weather most affected by the flooding. first planted those vegetable seeds events such as typhoons and floods that took between one and two occur, the impact on people, their Australia was the first nation to months to grow, followed by the agricultural lands and livestock and respond in a practical way to a maize which took longer. Farmers their infrastructure is calamitous. Natural Disaster Mitigation were also given a 10 kilogram bag Development efforts are set back of rice each so that people had food and the people remain trapped in a on hand to eat and did not resort to cycle of poverty. eating the seeds. Basic tools such as In 1998 and 1999, exceptionally shovels, crow bars and picks were heavy rain fell in seven provinces included in the resettlement kits. in Central Vietnam with the result World Vision worked with local that much of the region was severely groups to decide where the seeds flooded. and tools should be distributed and Throughout November and met with local farmers to advise December 1999, some areas them on the planting. received twice their mean annual Australia has also started longer- rainfall in just a few days. By most term development programs to estimates, these floods were increase food security, and help considered the largest to have hit re-establish rural livelihoods in Central Vietnam in the past one three districts, a water supply hundred years. project to bring clean water to three The damage was considerable. More districts and an oral health care than 700 people lost their lives and program to help re-establish basic many more were injured or stricken dental care through East Timor. with disease while coping with the floods. Tens of thousands of people Australia is also providing training had to be evacuated to higher for East Timorese leaders and their ground. Many families lost their support staff in democratic parlia- homes and their livelihoods and had mentary processes. It has also to be resettled to safer areas. There helped build a functional was immense destruction of and Parliament building and provided damage to homes, schools, clinics technical advice for the elections and other buildings. Rural and held in August 2001. urban infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. Agricultural land was Flood Control in washed away or covered with Central Vietnam sediment. Crops were destroyed and AusAid has helped villagers rebuild their market gardens Central Vietnam is one of the thousands of livestock were through the East Timor Community Assistance Scheme. poorest regions in the country. destroyed or became diseased. Local Photo by David Haigh, courtesy of AusAID. In 1998, 48 per cent of those in authorities did not have the the region were classified as living resources, rescue materials or Partnership for Vietnam. The below the national poverty line, training to react effectively. partnership grew out of a multi- against a national average of donor mission that was undertaken 37 per cent. The cost of the physical damage in the central provinces was estimated in May 2000 and included The area is extremely vulnerable to to be more than US$340 million representatives of the United natural hazards. It is subject to and those most affected by the Nations Development Program, typhoons and tropical depressions flooding lived in the poorest the Asian Development Bank, the from June to November each year communities. World Bank and the Netherlands. and heavy rains from September In December 1999, immediately The mission recommended that an to December. after the second flood, the Integrated Natural Disaster The coastal plains are the most Government of Vietnam and the Mitigation Policy be formulated for heavily populated. When international donor community Central Vietnam. The policy would overloaded by rainfall, waterways recognised the importance of take all issues that relate to natural discharge their excess run-off into responding to both the immediate disaster mitigation in Central

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Vietnam into account and would caused by disasters will help make and maintain water control facilities result in an action plan that would its existing development work in to defer and limit the levels of include a range of short, medium rural communities in Vietnam flooding, improve draining and dry and long-term measures. more sustainable. season water supply. By the time the project is finished, there will be To this end AusAID commissioned a a system of dykes, sluices and feasibility study into the Quang canals to prevent the entry of early Ngai area ofCentral Vietnam. floods into the project site of 31,000 hectares. It found three main causes of vulnerability of the poorer The project includes other measures communities to natural disasters. to increase farm production through family training in crop and livestock The first was increased exposure to production. It is also developing and hazards such as floods, storms and funding a targetted credit program drought because of unplanned and for women and poorer families and uncontrolled developments. giving women the training and The second was a lack of resources materials needed for better nutrition and emergency services for poor and sanitation. communities to prepare for and As well as providing equipment and respond to natural disasters. technical assistance for the final design and construction of the flood The third was unstable river control facilities, Australia is meeting behaviour, river bank erosion, about 40 per cent of the total cost of saline water overflow into the civil work up to a value of agricultural land and an absence nearly $3 million. It also is of refuges for fishing boats during providing technical and financial floods and storms. inputs for the credit component, The report recommended master and health and agriculture planning for the Tra Bong and components. The Government of Vietnam is meeting 60 per cent Tra Khuc river basins to provide of the civil works, all resettlement guidelines and policies for future compensation costs and will developments in the basins. contribute nearly $800,000 towards It suggested better community the establishment of a pilot farm. preparedness for natural disasters and the development of appropriate The benefits of the program will infrastructure to improve the extend to the entire population of management of river banks and North Vam Nao, or 270,000 people. Australia provides assistance to East Timorese farmers. adjacent land, reduce losses from the Delaying the annual floods will Photo David Haigh, courtest of AusAID. intrusion of seawater and provide a increase crop yields and reduce the boat refuge for fishing vessels. need for manually-built earthen dams. Credit, agriculture and health Australia has since signed a Memor- This study will form the basis of an programs will be targetted andum of Agreement developed Australian-funded disaster particularly at women and young between the international donor mitigation project in Quang Ngai families with little or no land to community and the Government of province, scheduled to start next enable them to take advantage of Vietnam to underpin the partnership. financial year. flood control. A Secretariat will ensure there is This work builds on other Public Health in coordination between individual Australian assistance to help North projects and avertconflicts in Vam Nao Island in An Giang In March 2000, about 700 people competing proposals. A Consult- province in the Delta in ative Group will meet twice yearly Vietnam to help it withstand died in heavy flooding in Southern to prioritise the allocation of flooding and improve the quality of Mozambique. Nearly 300,000 resources and to discuss strategies life for 270,000 people. people were displaced, and at least and policy issues. ten per cent of cultivated area in the This $10.3 million program is region was affected. Fishing boats In signing the agreement, Australia assisting local authorities and and nets were lost, roads cut and recognises that limiting the damage construction firms to build, operate power facilities damaged. 8 3066 WEMA Journal Aug 2002 new 9/26/02 3:35 PM Page 9

The Ministry of Health in damage to buildings, roads and ounded by the poor state of the Mozambique asked for technical irrigation facilities at Chokwe and small fire service that had assistance to help the country’s areas of residual flooding, water and inadequate equipment, training health authorities respond to the sanitation as well as housing. The and maintenance. immediate disaster and become informal market in the main better prepared for future floods. township was also studied. There was no evidence of dam safety emergency plans for any of the The Australian Government, The team visited a temporary dams in Mozambique or a through AusAID, provided accommodation facility at coordinated flood warning system Mozambique with a team of Chiaquelane to examine water, with the neighbouring countries experts from Victoria’s State sanitation, waste disposal, general from which most of Mozambique’s Emergency Service. living conditions and the Spanish rivers originate. Hospital. It also investigated the The team was charged with helping temporary accommodation camp The existing limited flood warning the Ministry of Health respond to at Macia. system (mainly using school the immediate crisis as well as teachers) did not co-ordinate the trying to avert a broader public Areas in and around Maputo City, many river level readings, automatic health disaster from epidemics such Catembe and Matola were assessed river gauges, rainfall gauges and as cholera and malaria. for evidence of flood damage on local indicators operated by various the effect on local infrastructure. Government bodies and private One of the main tasks during the industry for their own benefit. mission involved training a range of The Xai-Xai area and the Limpopo Government health personnel in River flood plain were studied. Several areas affected by landslip strategies to manage public health Visits were then made to the and erosion in the Maputo City disasters, especially floods and to increase their capacity to deal with similar emergencies in the future. AusAID bilateral country programs are increasingly The team was also required to identify further steps to assist in the providing support to communities recovering from management of post flooding. crises and are assisting with indigenous disaster The project was conducted against a history of endemic cholera of which management capacities. there are regular outbreaks around the country because of poor sanitation and hygiene. While a Provincial Director of Health in area were found to be in need of cholera vaccine exists, it has limited the Gaza Province, the Institute stabilisation before they could be efficacy and is too expensive and for Disaster Management, an repaired and future damage resource intensive for the emergency accommodation minimised. Mozambican Government to centre and associated hospital, consider making it generally health post, health centre and a The team recommended a available. Because of the floods and cholera treatment centre. water chlorination project be the resulting severe damage to water Consideration was given to the implemented in conjunction with and sanitation systems, there was an public health implications from a public education campaign as a outbreak of cholera in the affected local water, sanitation and waste matter of urgency. area. In attempting to minimise its disposal systems. impact, the Government conducted It found that low-lying stagnant public education campaigns to alert A large cholera treatment centre in water in Chokwe and its surroun- the population together with Maputo City was examined in detail. dings, especially the market, epidemiological studies to identify needed urgent anti/larvae, anti/ new cases to begin treatment early. The Australian team found the mosquito treatment for malaria country lacked the funds and prevention and measures taken The team conducted its field resources to allocate to a comp- to reduce the high risk of an research in the Gaza Province at rehensive disaster prevention outbreak of diarrhoeal illness, Chokwe and Macia townships and program although it recommended in particular cholera. the Chiaquelane temporary a range of actions that could be accommodation facility. The initial taken without incurring significant research included inspecting flood costs. This situation was comp-

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Australian Aid: making a difference in times of disaster

It also recommended that planning The training program ended with The eruption exposed weaknesses for malaria control in the next the development of outlines for a in the National Volcanological season begin immediately. flood response disaster plan and a Service and consequently the ability public health disaster management of the PNG Government to provide The group recognised the plan. The course was well received, an effective warning service for management of potable water and as it was the first such training the community. sanitation were difficult issues and opportunity in disaster management more public health measures were for health. The first weakness was the needed to overcome deficiencies. monitoring equipment used At the end of the mission, the team In particular, urgent attention throughout the country by the delivered a formal briefing to a needed to be paid to water quality. Rabaul Volcanological Observatory. range of senior Mozambican A study of bacteria and parasites It had deteriorated because of officials outlining recommendations was needed in flood-affected areas. ageing exaggerated by the tropical for the development of a National environment. The existing system to identify Disaster Management System and disaster victims and the analysis highlighting the importance of The second was that the of the cause of sudden and work to prevent emergencies the Observatory was not able to unexpected death appeared scale of the 2000 floods. collect and analyse large amounts deficient. A better system was of data quickly. seen as an important step in Volcano monitoring in primary prevention strategies for The Australian Government agreed public health in disasters, in Papua New Guinea has many active to assist the Government of Papua particular epidemics. volcanoes. Fourteen have erupted New Guinea in the form of a over the past 200 years. $6.5 million project to upgrade After identifying the above issues and strengthen the National and making its recommendations, In September 1994, Tavurvur and Volcanological Service to try to the team conducted a bilingual Vulcan volcanoes erupted, reduce the impact of active training program in disaster inflicting enormous damage on the volcanoes on PNG communities. management for 30 public health northeastern part of the Gazelle The project had two phases, professionals. Presentations were Peninsula, including Rabaul town. starting in 1995 and largely delivered in English supported by The devastation badly affected the ending by June 2000. slides and notes in Portugese. basic socio-economic infrastructure Participants identified water and system in Rabaul Township and During the first phase, the sanitation, together with rural the surrounding villages and left Australian Geological Survey access, as the key recovery issues a damage bill in the order of Organisation procured new in an emergency. K280 million. monitoring equipment for the

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Rabaul Volcanological Observatory. landowners or custodians over The scale of lives and property lost The second phase was specifically access to land. to disaster in the Pacific is designed as the outcome of a needs devastating, but even these statistics analysis carried out by an AusAID There have been no identifiable do not fully reflect the impact of sponsored mission just after the environmental effects from the disasters on the people of the Rabaul eruption. The mission antennae. Pacific. Though there is a great recommended an urgent diversity of culture and conditions Additional work has since been programme of support be provided in the Pacific islands, all rely heavily done to ensure specific elements of to the observatory which was on the exploitation of their natural the project can be sustained. These unable to efficiently monitor the resources for economic support. include providing extra training to behaviour of the volcanoes and Forestry, fisheries, agriculture and technical staff, establishing a remote provide timely reports of events tourism are the main industries, centre at the headquarters of the because of a lack of maintenance, with differences of scale from equipment and staff. Australian Geographical Survey subsistence to large commercial Organisation, providing the Rabaul plantations. Each of these To overcome these deficiencies the Volcanological Observatory with a industries, and by extension the project responded in four ways. comprehensive set of spare parts economy in general, are highly and components and a technician to sensitive to their environment and It helped design and provide install a remote site at Pago. to the weather. A disaster, such as a volcano monitoring recording drought, impacts strongly not just equipment and sent specialist The extended project is scheduled on certain sectors of the community, advisers to help with installation. It to end at the end of 2002 at a cost but on everyone. conducted training and established of $435,000. a geochemical monitoring facility. While reports by the United Disaster Management Nations Development Program have Staff at the Rabaul Volcanological in the Pacific shown an increase in living Observatory were given extra standards in many Pacific countries, The Pacific is one of the most training in the analysis of development is a fragile process. On disaster prone areas in the world. information relating to volcanoes. top of direct economic losses, each A major geophysical survey was Cyclones, droughts, active time a disaster hits, scarce funds done of the deep interior of Rabaul volcanoes, severe earthquakes, oil that could have been used for volcano and dating of selected pollution, urban fires, aircraft providing better education, health Rabaul rocks was undertaken to disasters, tsunamis, coastal erosion, care or improvements in businesses determine more precisely the global warming, rising sea levels, El and services must be diverted into eruptive history of the volcano. Nino and La Nina, armed conflict, disaster relief and rebuilding. civil disturbances, exotic animal and Hardware and software were plant diseases and major health Costs are often extensive. provided to the observatory so it emergencies all afflict the region’s Addressing the losses felt during could operate a Volcanic-hazard small island states. ’s cyclone Kina used up almost Mapping and Information System. 40 per cent of Fiji’s capital budget. The system is used for mapping and In the early 1990s tropical cyclone A United Nations task force stressed assessing areas of risk and in the Ofa descended on , causing that unless preventive measures production of hazard maps. damage exceeding US$100 million were taken, future disasters would Relevant datasets and training gave and in Fiji cyclone Kina left the account for a significant proportion staff the ability to operate the government with a damage bill of GDP. Rebuilding often suspends system effectively. estimated at over US$120 million. the development process and the 1997 brought a drought to Papua frequency of disasters in the Pacific The observatory was also given a New Guinea that saw streams, leaves little time to rebuild reserves general package of support in the creeks and swamps dry up, rivers and capacity to cope before the next form of a new four-wheel drive disappear, schools close, and major one hits. A descending spiral of vehicle, internet connection, an increased poverty and vulnerability power cuts as lack of water reduced improved telephone system and the is a serious threat. power-generating capacity. One production of a public-awareness assessment found 777,000 people video highlighting the dangers of In the past, these disasters were facing famine. In the same country active volcanoes. seen as overwhelming and in 1998, a tsunami of up to unavoidable, as ‘Acts of God’. New radio antennae were erected at 10 metres in height wiped out Gradually this attitude is changing the five high-risk volcanoes several villages and killed more as the capacity to manage events

56 following negotiations with local than 2,000 people near Aitape. and reduce vulnerability has 3066 WEMA Journal Aug 2002 new 9/26/02 3:35 PM Page 57

improved. Specific units within levels in the community. Training is the world. The Government government agencies have taken on provided to key disaster believes it has not only a moral responsibility for disaster management personnel within each obligation to assist in times of crises management activities and some country to assist them to design, but a responsibility to do so for resources have been set aside for maintain and evaluate disaster sound social, economic and mitigation. management plans. The intention is security reasons. that these officers not merely imple- Pacific Islands are beginning to ment plans adopted from larger Through its aid program, AusAID is recognise though that this issue countries. Each will become skilled assisting vulnerable countries to requires more than the attention in creating their own plans and become better prepared for crises. of a small part of a single agency. adapting existing methods to the In partnership with these countries, Disasters are a national priority and particular needs of their countries. it is giving local people increased coordination of planning and confidence and knowledge to put in resources is needed across Disaster plans will not relate only to place measures to reduce the impact government. Appreciation is also a single agency, but incorporate of damaging natural events. It is growing that the development of negotiation and coordination with a helping build a level of resilience to response capability is important, range of stakeholders. To support deal with the financial, social and but so is preparedness, mitigation this more extensive process, the emotional effects of disasters. and recovery. Disaster Management Unit has established the CHARM model More than ever the aid program is To this end, 15 countries are (Comprehensive Hazard and Risk also attempting to reduce working together with the South Management) that provides vulnerability by supporting Pacific Applied Geoscience guidelines for an integrated national activities and approaches that Commission, known as SOPAC, planning process. Though based on minimise the possibility of conflicts on a program that takes a new the Australia/New Zealand Risk and are responsive both during approach to disaster management Management Standard, CHARM is and after conflicts to restoring the in the Pacific. being developed to reflect the basis for development. This has unique needs and conditions of the been clearly evident in AusAID’s SOPAC is based in Fiji and is a Pacific Islands. approach to East Timor where regional organisation that provides emergency relief has quickly been technical advice, training and Considerable effort is also going replaced by long-term sustainable research assistance to member into building networks between projects. countries. It is divided into units National Disaster Management that focus on mineral, water, and Offices in different Pacific Island The Australian Government’s aid energy resource management, countries and counterpart agencies program does not profess to have hazard assessment and coastal in Australia and New Zealand. This all the answers. However it does monitoring. Members include Cook will allow information and expertise have the will and the experience Islands, Federated States of to be shared and development of to make a substantial contribution , Fiji, Guam, , a fuller understanding of regional to the alleviation of suffering Marshall Islands, New Zealand, hazards. brought about by natural and , Papua New Guinea, Samoa, man-made disasters in developing , Kingdom of The Disaster Management Unit countries, particularly in the , and , and program also works with non- Asia-Pacific region. Australia, which provided SOPAC government organisations, the with $1.3 million in funding in private sector and the broader This paper was prepared by the Public government to build an Affairs Unit of the Australian Agency for 2000–01. (French Polynesia and International Development (AusAID). appreciation of the importance and New Caledonia are Associate potential benefits of risk Members.) management, in the context of Since its commencement in July disaster management, as a basic 2000, the Disaster Management approach underlying the core Unit at SOPAC, with funding from functions of many agencies. AusAID and the New Zealand Government, has undertaken an Conclusion ambitious new program which The above country examples are emphasizes preparedness, just some of the ways in which the mitigation and a comprehensive, Australian Government, through integrated risk management AusAID, has responded to natural approach. The unit works at several and humanitarian crises around 57